The potential energy will decrease
Explanation:
The gravitational potential energy of an object is the energy possessed by the object due to its position in the gravitational field, and it is given by the equation
[tex]PE=mgh[/tex]
where
m is the mass of the object
g is the acceleration of gravity
h is the height of the object with respect a reference level (usually, ground level)
In this problem, we have a ball that is knocked off a shelf and falls to the floor. As the ball falls to the floor, its altitude [tex]h[/tex] decreases. As we see from the equation, the potential energy is directly proportional to the altitude: therefore, as the altitude decreases, the potential energy of the ball will decrease as well.
However, the total mechanical energy of the ball, in absence of air resistance, will remain constant:
E = PE + KE = constant
where KE is the kinetic energy of the ball: this means that during the fall, the potential energy of the ball will be converted into kinetic energy (which is the energy of motion: in fact, the speed of the ball will keep increasing).
Learn more about potential energy:
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